


It's An Adventure!

by lethaltender



Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Arcade Shenanigans, But They Aren't.... You'll See, F/M, Handcuffs, I'm Just Erring On The Side Of Caution, Late at Night, a little suggestive, but not entirely, but not really, possible ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28787643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethaltender/pseuds/lethaltender
Summary: Another gift for a friend! Barley can't sleep and takes you on a late night highway drive to a motel so you can go to the arcade right next to it tomorrow, or later today, or...? The days are bleeding together for him right now let him sleep and he'll be more coherent.
Relationships: Barley Lightfoot/Reader
Kudos: 8





	It's An Adventure!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rallsa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rallsa/gifts).



> Hi! I'm not super familiar with Onward so if Barley is ooc that would be why, just a fair warning. If not though, my friend has taught me well >:3

It was 3:59 when you got a call from your boyfriend. You were already awake watching your favorite movies, but why on Earth was he? You let it go to voicemail, thinking that talking with him would keep him up longer than anything else.

“Hey, honey bunches. Guess who can’t sleep? You wanna drive around with me?” Oh hell yes, you do. You called him back immediately, telling him to pick you up as soon as possible. He was all giggles listening to you excitedly plan your late night outing just after leaving his call unanswered. In less than five minutes, he was at your doorstep.

“How does the arcade sound?” Barley asked you from the driver’s seat of his van. You ran across a billboard for “Adventure Landing: Putt-Putt and Arcade!” at the next exit. You look at the duct tape holding his seat together as you answer him.

“Sure, if it’s open.” you yawn and take a moment to look at his stubbly chin, then drifting up to his sleepy eyes and hunched posture. He really was so cute, even if he wasn’t feeling 100%. This was a side to him people seldom got to see, but that just made it feel even more intimate that you got this opportunity. He was always so upbeat that it was hard to believe he could be this peaceful sometimes. 

The rest of the drive to the arcade was silent, but not the awkward kind: you two were understandably tired at 4:36 AM. When your dashing elf parked, the two of you got out and strolled to the front door, hand in hand. A sign greets you when you reach your destination: Sorry, we’re CLOSED. Below the sign is a list of hours, and apparently this establishment opens at 12 PM. You looked at each other, disappointed but already pondering your next move. Barley examines his surroundings and finds a Motel 88 pretty close by. But…

“You think we could crash in the van until the place opens?”

“That’s gotta be some kind of vandalism.”

“Damn, you’re right.” he claps his hands together. “Well, looks like we’re headed to a motel for the night!” He drives you over in two minutes, and by the time you get into your room you’re exchanging lazy yet heated kisses and taking each other’s clothes off.

You two wake up to the sound of an alarm, but neither of you remember setting one. Luckily enough, the alarm was set for noon sharp, and since employees are probably setting stuff up for the first few minutes of being open you don’t see a point in rushing to dress yourselves and drive over, making it to your original location at a quarter past the hour.

Barley holds the door open for you, and then he opens his wallet and gets $20 worth of tokens to split between you two. You go to take his hand in yours, leading him all around the arcade to get a layout of the games they have. Barley eyes the big fish lever, but when he looks back at you a mutual gaze reaches the air hockey table. You two are so lucky the only other people here are the employees, because before you even start playing you’re already trash talking each other and laughing at a volume that would be considered entirely too loud in any other setting.

“Get ready to lose, sweetheart.”

“Ha, you wish!” You nudge him on the way to the table, and he elbows you back just before you separate. He puts eight of your one hundred tokens in the slots, and the game begins. There’s a loud grunt from his throat when he accidentally pushes the puck into his own goal, but other than that the noise from you two is joyful laughter and playful insults: it’s nice to have a relationship where you two are comfortable messing around with each other like that. It makes things feel more approachable when they are still new, and it makes you feel lively and nostalgic when they are more established. You think it’s impossible to have a bad time with Barley, and he thinks the same of you, but neither of you have to mention it directly for it to be a self-evident truth- it’s an infectious type of feeling.

The game kind of goes by in a blur, but you end up winning. Barley may carry some suspicion of letting you win, because instead of taking the piss when he loses he gives you this lovestruck look and tells you how beautiful your smile is. That makes you blush, and then he looks even more puppy like, which you didn’t know was possible. You go to hug him, and after you do you put four tokens in his cup to make the balance even. Then, the two of you split up and play a few games separately, coming together every now and again to play a racing game or something else multiplayer together. You have a few rematches of air hockey, and you still one two out of three. 

“Well, I have to give the air hockey champion a prize fitting of the title, don’t I?” he says as he gives you a chaste kiss on the cheek, which makes you look to the floor and smile like an idiot. He plays a lot of the fish game when you two are apart, and when he’s not doing that he goes for other games that have the possibility for a big ticket payoff. You go for more laid back games, like skee ball and what is essentially Whack-A-Mole. At the back of the arcade, you see two stations of a dance game, and you rush to find Barley and drag him back with you. You laugh at yourselves and each other, and you have a great time at the last game you play that day.

Before you leave, you go to the prize counter, and Barley gives you a mischievous look from the side of the station that you can’t find a reason for. He then jumps down and grabs something that makes a noise when he shakes it, and you pick up a few pieces of candy for the two of you to split later. The employees tell you to have a good day as you leave, and Barley’s absolutely giddy as he walks you back to Guinevere. He sits the box on his lap when he settles himself in the driver’s seat, and you look over from the passenger to see what it is. You roll your eyes as you realize what he’s so excited about: a pair of toy handcuffs. Barley truly is the ideal man for you.


End file.
